Wednesday, May 23

Dancing with the stars is on again. Fortunately, it's the finale. Unfortunately, I don't get to mock it anymore. But hey, Canadian Idol is starting soon, so at least I can mock Ben Mulroney. Of course, that would necessitate watching it, which I won't, but I'm sure I can make some generic pokes at him, and they'd be reasonably accurate.

Anyway. It's 20 minutes until a new champion is crowned, so I have to finish this posting in that amount of time. No problem.

We had a very exciting day today--the boy went to his first hockey game. What a lot of fun. At first, he was a little bit hesitant about the whole process--lots of people, a strange atmosphere--but he warmed up to it really well by the second period. He made friends with Tony the Tiger, or at least a guy in a Tony the Tiger suit, which was a whole lot of fun, too. Biggest cat he's ever seen. He even made the cheerleaders ooh and aah (yes, there are cheerleaders. No, you don't want to get me started on that topic). Great times were had by everyone.

Man, I'm really pumped about the whole thing. Even sitting here recalling it makes me proud to be the father of the best kid on the planet (and the cutest, too). This stretch is making all the adversity worthwhile, and then some. Although there were times during the colicky phase where I literally wanted to throw him out the window, the payoff for getting through that is so enormous that it's hard to put into words. There's just something so special about the relationship you have with your kid. Amazing.

Here I go, gushing on again. Gosh. What else of note happened today? Well, it's day 24 after graduating, and still no word on a job. I'm really trying to stay calm and relaxed, but it's hard. I need something to occupy some time and at least make a little bit of money so that I don't feel like the most useless husband on the face of the planet. The last day I worked was August 31, 2005, and it's starting to get to me in a very deep way. But it'll all work out, I know it. And one day, I'll look back on this time and reflect on the many lessons I learned about character from it. But those lessons are hard to see in the haze of the moment. I hope that I can learn something going through the process, but it's usually the reflection afterward that teaches the most. I will eventually get a job. Stay positive.

All that to say that today was like every other unemployed day--I felt useless. I did manage to tend my garden a bit, which made me feel good. Also went to the park with the wife and the boy, and played and read books as usual. It's funny, because he has no idea what's going on in our lives--he's happy-go-lucky and everything's right in his world. Must be a nice place to be.

Okay, stop with the self-flagellation. Sorry. I will eventually find a more positive tone in this blog, I really will. It's just going to take some time is all. I'm leading worship again this Sunday at our home church, so that should get me feeling at least a little bit useful again. Oh, and we're going to go see Spiderman 3 tomorrow, so fun times will be had there.

I've tried so hard to stretch this posting about nothing into something, and I think I've done well, but I also think I need to stop. Oh, and for the record, Dancing with the Stars just redeemed itself a little--two of the contestants just did a Star Wars themed dance, complete with light saber. Cool. Of course, the "star" in question was Joey Fatone of 'N-Sync fame, but I didn't say it completely redeemed itself, did I?

Oh, and while we're on the topic of season finales, I have not yet seen the end of 24, but I do plan to watch it this weekend. I'm actually still catching up, so I'm only at the end of hour 19, but I figure that gives me something substantial to look forward to. I might have some reflections on it next week, but then again, it'll be old news by then, so we'll see.

With that, I must be going. See you tomorrow.